The petitioners, in the present case, are all employees attached to Family Welfare Centres maintained by the Indian Red Cross Society, West Bengal Branch commonly known as 'Urban Centres'. The petitioners are described as a class as 'staff employed in Family Welfare Planning Centres under vuluntary organisations. The present writ application involves such employees of six 'Urban Centres'.

2. Case as made out on behalf of the petitioners is that the expenditures of such centres are met out of grants, provided by the Central Government, but disbursed through State Government's Health Departments; these centres had been created for the purpose of implementation of Family Welfare Programme, which involves mother and child care, welfare and birth control programmes; permanent method of implementation of such programme including surgical operations, vasectomy, Leproscopic operations, Sterilization, Suboctomy etc., whereas temporary methods mainly comprised motivating people at large and distributing Nirodhs, Pills etc. for implementation of such programme; permanent methods, which require operations are permitted only in the case of Hospitals, Nursing Homes and Institutions approved